


Out of Order

by Pancake_Prince



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, One Word Prompts, Rating May Change, Snippets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2019-08-20 15:10:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 15,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16558100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pancake_Prince/pseuds/Pancake_Prince
Summary: A set of snippets revolving around Goro Akechi and Ren Amamiya, all taking place in the same universe, all in the wrong order.





	1. Ambition

“I’m telling you, I’ve looked in here already!” A little black-haired boy chases after his friend into the classroom, “It’s not in here!” 

“You’ve probably been looking all wrong,” his brown-haired friend replies without pausing his search, “You said you last saw your pen in here, right? So, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t find it in here.” 

Suddenly, the brown-haired boy drops to his knees and starts crawling around on the floor while the other keeps a look out by the door. At this hour they were supposed to be playing around outside, not searching for lost pens in empty classrooms. If a teacher found them in here without an adult accompanying them, they would get into a lot of trouble. 

The black-haired boy looks back at his friend, hesitation flashing across his face, “Goro... I don’t care if I get in trouble but your mum’s going to be really angry if the teachers tell you off because of me.” 

Goro shrugs it off and continues his search, “I told you I’d find your pen, and I want to keep that promise,” He looks behind him and sees his friend paying more attention to him than to the hallway, “But that doesn’t mean you can stop watching, Ren!” 

Ren realises his mistake and quickly goes back to watching the hallway. 

Goro returns to his search, getting to the end of the classroom. He looks underneath one of the cupboards in the back and finds a long, thin object lying in the back. He reaches out for it but his arm is just too sort to take a hold of it. 

“Someone’s coming!” Ren shouts in a whisper and ducks into the classroom. He runs over to Goro and looks down at him, “Did you find it?!” 

Goro nods quickly, still trying to reach the pen, “Yeah... but I can’t reach it!” 

The sound of a teacher's heel clicking gets closer and closer to the classroom, and panic overcomes the two boys. Thinking on his feet, Ren pushes Goro out of the way and opens up the cupboard, “Get in!” Ren whispers and Goro shakes his head. 

“But only one of us will fit in there!” Goro argues but instead of listening to him, Ren just tries shoving his friend inside, “Ren!” Goro fights back but Ren is just stronger enough to get him inside. 

“I’ll find my own hiding spot!” Ren reassures him before closing the cupboard. But it’s already too late because right at that moment their teacher walks in. 

“Amamiya-kun? You shouldn’t be in here during your lunch break!” Goro hears the teacher scold him, “What were you doing looking through the cupboards?” 

“I lost my pen,” Ren quickly explains. Through a little gap in the cupboard, Goro watches as his friend points at him, “I thought it got lost with all the other pens but I couldn’t find it there...” 

Instead of shouting at him as Goro expected, the teacher just sighs and puts her head in her hands, “Couldn’t you wait until after the lunch break was over?” 

Ren shakes his head and looks down, “I thought someone would take it...” 

Goro can’t see his face, but he knew that the frizzy haired boy was pouting to make himself sound and look more innocent. 

The teacher hesitates in her response, but eventually she lets go, “I suppose if you weren’t misbehaving then I’ll let it slide this time. Have you found your pen?” 

Ren looks up again and nods quickly, “It’s underneath the cupboard!” He points down to it, sounding triumphant. 

“Then retrieve it and go back outside as soon as you’ve put it back in your bag, okay?” The teacher instructs him, and leaves the classroom again. 

As soon as he hears the doors sliding back, Goro jumps out of the cupboard, taking a ruler out with him. He gets on his hands and knees again and this time tries to get the pen to roll his way with the ruler. 

“Sasaki-sensei is really nice. I’m really glad she’s our homeroom teacher this year!” Ren says as he watches Goro retrieve his pen. 

“She’s just new here,” Goro replies a lot more pessimistically and finally gets the pen with a little black cat on the end of it to roll out from underneath the cupboard, “She’ll probably start being mean soon. She’ll just start to hate us all like Tanaka-sensei.” 

“You’re just saying that because you don’t like maths,” Ren pulls a face and gets his pen back from his friend. He begins clearing off the dust bunnies that have gathered around the little cat by patting it.

Goro dismisses him with a shake of his head, “I like maths. I hate Tanaka-sensei because he hates me because I pointed out a mistake he made when correcting my homework.” 

Ren giggles and runs over to his bag. He throws his pen in and zips it up, making sure it wouldn’t fall out and get lost again, “Then why don’t you pay attention in class?” 

“Because Tanaka-sensei is dumb,” Goro folds his arms and pouts, “Anyway, I told you I’d get your pen back. Can we go now? I don’t wanna get caught either you know.” 

“Okay, okay, we’ll go!” Ren nods and Goro heads for the door. He slides it open and looks back to find Ren still standing at his desk. 

“Aren’t you coming?” 

It’s clear on Ren’s expression that he’s contemplating something, but when he finally makes his decision, he runs over to Goro and pulls him into a hug, “Thanks for getting my pen, Goro. You’re the best detective ever!” 

“Detective?” Goro asks, raising an eyebrow, “All I did was find your stupid pen.” 

“My pen isn’t stupid!” Ren quickly pulls away, “It’s really cool! It has a cat on the end of it.” 

“That’s lame,” Goro looks back down the hallway, “But... I guess if it’s your pen then it’s cool.” 

“Huh?” Ren asks, not entirely sure what Goro was getting at. Still, when he doesn’t get an explanation, he grabs Goro’s hand and runs out of the classroom, pulling his friend behind him, “C’mon, we can’t miss out on all the fun!” 

“You’re the one who was crying about his pen earlier!” Goro reminds him but his remarks are left ignored as the giggling boy in front of him leads them back towards the playground of the school. 

 _Detective..._ Goro repeats Ren's earlier words in his head as they get back outside without being caught.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! So because I am a disaster who cannot stay put for a second and has had her backups of other fics deleted somehow I've started on a new thing!
> 
> So a little about the tags/warnings- they do not apply for every chapter, and I will try to give a warning before the chapter where anything triggering might be mentioned/implied.


	2. Exhaustion

By the time the coffee’s made and brought in front of him, Ren finds that the young detective had already fallen asleep with his arm propped up and his head resting in his hand. The café had been relatively quiet all day, but it was rare for him to drop his guard under any circumstance. 

The smell however seems to be enough to wake him up, as the detectives eyes flutter open at the bitter hints of the coffee hit his senses, “Oh... I apologise, that isn’t something I normally-.” 

Ren lifts up his hand to get him to stop explaining himself, “It’s fine, Goro, I get it. I mean... I’ve been seeing you do loads of interviews recently and I heard that you got some big-time gang off the streets last week so it’s no wonder you’re exhausted.” 

“Oh?” Goro lifts the cup up to his lips and blows on it, “I didn’t know you were watching. Nevertheless, this is just normal police work. I shouldn’t be this tired merely from that.” 

Ren chuckles, wiping down the counter, “That’s not why you’re exhausted. Well... it’s one of the reasons,” he glances over to the clock. It was getting near closing time and Goro was still here drinking coffee? Just how overworked was he anyway? “You need a break, Goro. I mean, with all of the interviews, police work and school work it’s no wonder you’re falling asleep here in Leblanc. Your job is freelance, isn’t it?” 

“...for the most part, yes,” Goro confirms it and takes a short sip of the coffee. The warmth burns down his throat, and he reaches for the sugar and teaspoon over the counter. On any other occasion, he’d ask, or rather, he never needed to ask because Ren always knew exactly what to put in his coffee on any given day. However, today he needed sugar, the bitterness and the caffeine wasn’t going to cut it, “Unfortunately if I start to slack off then I will be forgotten within a week and all of the work I’ve put in will be for naught.” 

“That sounds like a seriously toxic environment,” Ren comments on it and finishes cleaning the counter. He drapes the rag over his shoulder, puts his hand on the counter and leans forwards, “Do you work on Sundays too?’ 

Goro sets down his cup and reaches into his inside pocket. From there, he pulls out a little red notebook and a pen, “Why do you ask?” 

Ren almost manages to hide it, but eventually he gives in and snorts at the little book, “Who carries around an agenda anymore?” 

Goro simply opens up his notebook and flips through it to an empty page, “Those who have far too much on their minds to keep a mental note of all of their meetings.” 

“Can’t you just use your phone like us normal people?” Ren questions him, pulling away from the counter. 

Goro puts his thumb on the end of his pen and clicks it once, “Yes, but I can’t just go along and use it whenever I please. I have little time to charge it and I tend to get a lot of important calls. As such it is far more practical for me to use this.” 

Ren just rolls his eyes at just how extra Goro could be, but then he of all people would know that this is exactly what his old friend was like, “I wanted to take you somewhere,” he finally answers Goro’s previous question, “This Sunday. Come fishing with me.” 

“F-fishing?!” Gor looks up from his notebook quickly, “What does fishing have to do with me being exhausted?” 

“It’s relaxing, gives you time to sit down and think, it’s pretty quiet too,” Ren explains, “I think it could help you a lot more than coffee ever could.” 

Goro looks back down at his notebook and hesitantly writes in his meeting with Ren, “You do know that Boss would kill you if he heard you say that, yes?” 

Ren snorts once more, “Bold of you to assume he hasn’t already heard it back in his house and is on his way right now to do it.” 

Once he’s finished writing in the date, he sets the book down and takes another sip of his coffee, “I’ll make sure to be the one to write up your report then.” 

Ren puts a hand to his chest, faking taking offence in the remark, “You wouldn’t even try to save me?” 

“Hmpf,” Goro huffs and turns to the TV, “Against Boss after you insulted coffee? You’re on your own there.” 

“Who insulted coffee?” The afore-mentioned owner of the coffee shop asks, walking into the café with the bells chiming at his arrival. 

Ren gives Goro a look, one that begged him not to say a word, which only serves to give Goro a playful smile on his face, “Oh, it is no one you should concern yourself with, Boss. Merely a hooligan I know.” 

Sojiro gets behind the counter next to Ren and pulls on his apron, “Can’t be any worse than this guy,” he points to Ren with his thumb. 

“Excuse you?” Ren asks, now not even faking his offence, “I’m _delightful_!” 

“Keep telling yourself that,” Both Goro and Sojiro say at the same time. 

For the rest of the evening, Ren ends up sulking by the kitchen sink, washing up dishes while listening to Goro talk pleasantries with Sojiro. 

At least Goro left the café looking considerably less exhausted.


	3. Quiet

Ren hangs up on Ann when he hears the front door being unlocked. He quickly moves off the couch to greet his boyfriend as soon as he comes in, however instead of the usual happy expression Goro had when entering their apartment, he appears exhausted and sickly. His nose is red, as are his eyes, there are dark circles under them and he generally seems to tremble. Immediately, Ren reaches for the largest scarf he could find and wraps it around Goro, “What happened? You were feeling fine this morning, weren’t you?” 

Ren leads him onto the couch and pulls a blanket over him, “Stay here, I'll make you some tea.” 

As Ren moves away from the couch and over to the kitchen counters in the small apartment and begins by pouring some water into the kettle from the sink. 

Meanwhile, Goro gets to explaining, “I-I-I wasn’t f-f-feeling... too g-g-great this m-morning... b-but I n-n-needed to get to work...” he admits to his earlier lie, “I-I-It was only worse from t-there,” he keeps trembling and Ren strides over to the thermostat, raising the temperature. 

“That’s it, we’re both calling in sick tomorrow and I’m taking care of you,” Ren decides for the both of them. Goro gets into a coughing fit when he tries to reply, “Yeah that seals it, and no more talking for you. You’ll just make your throat worse.” 

As soon as the waters boiled, Ren goes back to the kitchen and pours the water into two cups which already had tea leaves in them. He gives it some time, adding a little honey in both cups and stirring it before going back to the couch, “We’ll just have a quiet night in for now and we can deal with the aftermath of this later, yeah?” 

Goro takes his tea from Ren and gives a little nod. Moving to take a seat next to him, Ren picks up the remote on the way and tries to find something to watch. When he’s finished drinking his tea, Goro shifts closer and closer to Ren, soon finding himself leaning against him. By the time that he’s warmed up even more, Goro has his head in Ren’s lap, snuggling up under the blanket, with Ren running his hand through his hair. 

After about an hour of cuddling and barely paying attention to what was on tv, Goro pulls out his phone and begins typing something. He moves his arm out further from underneath the blankets and lifts his phone up to Ren’s face. 

Ren notices that the message is written in his notepad app, and read it out loud, “’Would you like to see what I have been up to today?’ Oh, Goro, are you sure? I know you don’t actually like seeing yourself on TV-.” 

Goro retrieves his phone and quickly types out another message, before lifting it up to Ren’s face and watching his expression, “’I don’t mind if it’s with you. Besides you asked about what happened.’ Okay, well if you’re comfortable with that.” 

Ren reaches for the remote on the table in front of them carefully, mostly to try not to have Goro back away from him due to the movement but he manages to get it. He leans down and kisses on Goro’s forehead, both out of affection but also to check his temperature, “You seem to be getting better already... or at least you’re not shaking as much. Feeling warmer?” 

Goro nods slowly and points to the TV, causing Ren to laugh, “You become such a kid when you’re ill, you know that? Don’t worry, don’t worry, I’ll change the channel now,” he flips between channels until he reaches the one where a repeat of Goro’s interview that day was playing. 

At first, seeing himself causes Goro to tense up a little, but Ren calms him down with his soft hands touching and playing with his hair, setting the detectives mind at ease.  

The interview itself is pretty standard, similar to the ones Ren used to watch when Goro was first starting, however in this one, despite already starting to look a little sickly even through the makeup, Goro sounded far more confident and spoke with much more conviction. However, that never mattered to Ren. Whether he was just a 15-year-old boy who was still a little camera shy, or a 26-year-old charming the hosts of whatever show he was on, Ren couldn’t help but smile every time Goro cracked a terrible joke or even just when he showed off that beautiful smile of his. 

He looks down at his boyfriend who was already hiding underneath the covers, and Ren can’t help but chuckle a little, “Aw, Goro, you have nothing to be ashamed of.” 

“I look like a fool,” Goro croaks out, the flu having now gotten to his throat. 

“Shh,” Ren shushes him and strokes his hand along Goro’s body, “You’re being too harsh on yourself.” 

“Hmm...” Goro grumbles and pops his head out from the covers, “I don’t-.” 

Ren presses a finger to Goro’s lips, “Quiet night in, remember?” 

Goro sits up and turns over so that his head now rests on the couch rest. However, he shifts around further so that Ren can’t see his expression. 

Ren laughs at how childish he was being, “You’re the one who wanted to watch this...” he sighs when Goro doesn’t move back, “You really are such a kid when you’re sick, aren’t you?” 


	4. Support

The mattress shaking slightly is what wakes Ren up in the middle of the night. He turns on his side, quickly finding the cause behind it. Goro was shaking, muttering and sweating in his sleep, clearly the sign of yet another night terror. Ren sits up, turning on his bedside table light and covers Goro with the sheets he had discarded in his sleep.

He gets out of the bed, now fully awake, and goes to the kitchen to pour himself some water, trying his best to remain quiet. He drinks the water in the kitchen, refills the glass for Goro, and goes back to the bedroom. Somehow in his absence, Goro had woken up, although Ren wasn’t sure if he even was aware of his surroundings. He whispers to confirm his suspicions, “How you feeling?”

“Huh?” Goro looks up and finds Ren standing over him, holding a cold glass of water, “I... I was feeling a little confused when I woke up and you weren’t in bed. This explains it,” he nods to glass of water, “I… it was another night terror, yes?”

Ren nods slowly and hands him the glass of water, “I didn’t know when you’d wake up, so I was just going to leave this on your bedside table and just lie down on the couch.”

Goro takes a few sips of the water before answering, all the while looking away from Ren, “I’m sorry, my own problems shouldn’t be causing you sleepless nights-.”

Ren sits down on the bed and shifts until he’s right next to Goro. He gently moves away some of the stray hair covering Goro’s face, “Don’t. You shouldn’t have to feel apologetic for that. I just want to make sure you’re doing okay because… well it’s been a few months since the last time this happened. Did something happen to trigger it now?”

In an attempt to get more comfortable now that he was more awake, Goro sets down the glass of water on the bedside table and pushes himself up on his arms until his back is against the headboard. He runs a hand through his hair, pushing strands of it out of his face, and moves his right knee closer to his chest, “It’s something I found out at work. I… I was asked not to tell anyone, even you, but I suppose this will be making the morning news anyway.”

Ren remains seated on the edge of the bed, feet slightly dangling off of it, “This is about him, isn’t it?”

Goro nods quickly, “Supposedly, Shido’s execution will be carried out next week. Don’t get me wrong, I’m somewhat relieved that he’ll finally be gone, after all it’s what I’ve been working towards but…”

“It’s not enough for you?” Ren guesses, “I can’t say I relate, I’m relieved he’ll be gone after all he’s done but I definitely empathize.”

Goro nods once more, “When I first went after him, I was only out to destroy his life… in the end I can’t say I’m upset that he’s facing justice this way but through my… work I uncovered just how deep that corruption goes. Shido was the root of the problem, yes, but there are individuals who will just use this as an opportunity to learn from his mistakes and continue his work.”

Before replying, Ren moves back under the covers and sits up next to Goro, resting his back against the headboard as well. He offers to put his arm around his boyfriend and Goro snuggles up to Ren, “You’re thinking things will just be the same, right? But that’s not true, this time you’re here to stop it.”

“If I wasn’t able to do much last time then I can hardly do anything now,” Goro argues in a lowered tone.

“That’s not true,” Ren shakes his head and starts running his hand through Goro’s hair, “So much has changed since then. For one, you’re not alone. And I don’t just mean me, there’s Sae who’s always happy to offer her opinion to you, there’s your partner and I can’t imagine she’d turn down working this case with you. This time it’s different, you’re protected by the department too, you have every right to back out of anything and there’s plenty of people who’ll back you up on any decision you make.”

“Then you wish for me to investigate?” Goro raises an eyebrow, “Even if it may result in more sleepless nights, days away from home working and-.”

“I’m not going to push you to do it,” Ren quickly informs him before he begins to spiral, “But if it’s something you need to do, or think it’ll give you some peace of mind, or just want to do it as a means of enacting justice, I’ll support you, no matter what.”


	5. Wager

“You suck at this.”

“I’m aware of that, but you could be a little nicer about it,” Goro points out to his old friend as the two sit on separate crates. He holds a fishing rod in his hand while Ren’s own lies on the ground behind them. There’s no need to worry that someone would step on it, since, despite the weather being beautiful, they were the only two at the fish pond. Even the guy who rented the rods out to them wasn’t paying attention to the two boys, instead choosing to read some kind of magazine.

“You’re just… not concentrating enough. You keep moving it around. You're too restless,” Ren points out and shifts closer to Goro while still on his crate, “I wanted you to do this to take your mind off whatever’s bothering you. Not to think more about it.”

Goro lets out a frustrated breath and the statement just makes him even more impatient.

Ren picks up his fishing rod again and stands up, “Just look at me, okay? Maybe you’ll be able to pick it up like this.”

Goro reels in his fishing line while Ren crouches down and readies his own with the top grade boilie he bought for both of them with his points. The younger of the two stands up straight, then throws the fishing line in, breathing deeply. Goro observes him as he stands completely still, only moving his eyes, as he watches how the fish react to the bait underwater. It takes a few minutes, but soon enough, he reels the line back in with a fish hanging off of his bait. Ren removes it from the hook and places it into his bucket, “See? Not that difficult.”

“And how often do you come here, exactly?”

Ren shakes his head, “That’s not important, we’re not here to compete, Goro, we’re just here to relax…” he trails off, but a thought comes to his head. Simple relaxation just wasn’t something that Goro did. As long as Goro was the same one he knew from his childhood, Goro did relax through competition. He was always happiest when overcoming a challenge, however small, even when he’d become so frustrated doing it.

Ren uses that knowledge to bait him into not thinking about what was bothering him and relaxing in his own way, “Okay well if you’re gonna be this negative then how about we make a wager? If you can catch a bigger fish than the one I did, we can stop by the sweet shop once we leave and I'll buy whatever you want. Unless what you said in your latest interview about loving sweets was complete bullshit.”

“And if I lose?” Goro asks, sounding surprisingly pessimistic about all of this.

“If you lose then next week we’re going to the arcade and you’re paying.”

Goro groans deeply which is exactly the result Ren was expecting. It wasn’t that Goro hated gaming, far from it. The two used to play video games all the time. However, through the occasional chatter in Leblanc since Ren’s move to the city, he’d learned that for some strange reason Goro loathed the arcade itself. Ren could only guess that it might have to do with how excitable Goro got when gaming, and it was hard for him to hide by the mask he put up in public when distracted like that.

“I hate you,” Goro mutters, changing swapping out the used boilie.

Ren sets his own rod down again, “No you don’t. Oh, by the way, I’m not expecting you to get it on the first try. Get as many fish as you can and use up all the boilie if you want.”

“How generous of you,” Goro mutters again, this time the sarcasm far more evident in his tone. Despite all of the negativity, he concentrates on fishing this time a lot more than he did before, not to be outdone by Ren.

In the meantime, Ren picks his fish out of the bucket and goes over to have it measured. It turns out to be a fish of average size, which was probably for the best. It shouldn’t prove to be too hard of a challenge and as Ren recalled, Goro losing was something Ren hated experiencing.

It would be one thing if he were whiny, but Goro was a different kind of sore loser. He’d insist that it was all okay, that whatever they were competing in wasn’t important, so he didn’t really care about it. Then he’d proceed to ignore Ren until the event was forgotten, only occasionally answering his more important questions with the shortest answers possible.

(Back in their village Ren just had Goro forget the whole incident by acting like he had no idea how to do his homework to the point that a very frustrated Goro couldn’t stand just how wrong he was and felt the need to help him out, which of course meant he had to break the silent treatment. Sure, it was sketchy and manipulative as hell, but Ren didn’t know any better at the time.)

He comes back just in time to watch Goro reel in his first catch of the day, a fish of relatively similar size to the one Ren caught. The detective lifts it up triumphantly, “Ha! And on the first try as well!”

It was just dumb luck, it had to be, but in many ways, Ren was grateful, “See? Not that difficult,” he repeats his words from earlier, “Go have it measured then.”

Goro strides over with the fish in his hand and shows it to the man who still refused to pay the boys any attention beyond just selling them the boilie and measuring their catches. Goro specifically asks if it’s a bigger fish than the one Ren caught. It’s exactly the same size.

“A draw hmm?” Goro looks back at Ren, who happened to be out of earshot, then towards the fish, “Actually… if he asks, could you tell him it was a little smaller than that?”

The guy just shrugs nonchalantly, clearly not caring for whatever the two were getting up to. Goro thanks the man and heads back, putting on a dejected face, “It appears that you have won, Ren.”

“Huh?” The younger boy asks and points to their remaining boilie, “But you have all of that boilie left-.”

“I appreciate what you’re trying to do,” Goro smiles, having known this whole-time what Ren’s game was, “I’m willing to accept defeat now if it means we can leave this place.”

Ren hums, not convinced about it accepting Goro's defeat so easily. This was meant to be the two spending the whole day together to get Goro’s mind off of whatever kept him so buys and awake after all, “I changed my mind then. We don’t have to go to the arcade if you really don’t want to. But you owe me a date,” Ren says with a wink and Goro rolls his eyes at the joke.

Goro begins collecting their things with Ren’s help, “Yes, yes, I’ll pay for whatever entertainment you’ll want me to indulge in next… but please don’t make it fishing. I’m certainly glad that I tried it but… it’s so… dull.”

“Not all of have extracurricular activities consisting of chasing after criminals y’know,” Ren points out, chuckling, “But fine, I get it. No more fishing. Let’s get some sweets then, yeah?”

“But I lost,” Goro reminds him.

“I never said they were for you,” Ren grins and walks away from the pond, leaving Goro completely speechless and worse, with a sense of betrayal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know anything about fishing.  
> I tried it once and, just like Goro, I did not enjoy it.  
> But if you enjoy it then I commend you for having the patience for it.


	6. Camping

Ren giggles when Goro whacks him with a pillow, causing him to drop the torch and surround the tent in darkness. He pats his hand down on the surface around it, eventually finding the torch, and props it up so there’s light in the tent again, “So, you do like her!”

“Shut up! No I don't!” Goro hits him again, but this time he makes sure not to knock the torch over, “You’re so immature! I don’t like anyone!”

Ren pouts and points to his face, “Not even me?”

Goro sets the pillow down in front of him, “No. You’re gross and weird.”

“Then why are you in a tent with someone gross and weird?” Ren smiles widely and Goro doesn’t have a reply. The two boys quickly forget what they were talking about in the first place and quickly move on, “You should be a detective,” Ren says out of nowhere, lying down on the sleeping bags surrounding the boys.

They brought more than enough from their houses, Goro’s mother making sure the two would be very warm in the tent she helped them set up in their garden. Ren even managed to be stealthy enough for her not to notice all of the junk food he brought with him. She’d disapprove of it and confiscate it from the two of them as soon as she saw, her overbearing nature sometimes being a little much for Goro. Ren didn’t mind all that much. It was better than being ignored.

Goro opens up the box of pocky and takes one out for him and one for Ren, handing it over to him, “You keep saying that.”

“Because you’re really good at finding clues and stuff,” he puts the pocky into his mouth, but he doesn’t bite, trying to lick the chocolatey goodness off first before eating the rest.

Goro leans back against some of the pillows they brought, “You should be a politician. You’re always bossing me around.”

Ren shakes his head, “But you never listen so I’d be bad at it,” he finishes his pocky and reaches his hand out for more, “I’d be like… I dunno, the bad guy you’re always trying to catch but never can.”

“Like Joker and Batman?” Goro asks but Ren quickly shakes his head.

“No, Joker’s creepy. And you’d have to live in a cave,” Ren points out and starts giggling. Goro isn’t quite sure what’s making him laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“You in a Batman costume,” he burst out laughing even more and starts rolling around the tent. Goro starts whacking him with the pillow again.

“I could be Batman!” He keeps hitting him and that’s when the little flap of the tent zips open. Ren scurries around, shoving the bags of junk food and bottles of fizzy drinks underneath the sleeping bags.

The two act as if nothing had been happening when Goro’s mum pokes her head inside, despite both of their hair being in complete disarray and the boys clearly being out off breath from concealing their activities, from laughing so much and from consequently hitting someone with a pillow for laughing. Ren’s still barely able to contain his giggles when she finally asks them about the ruckus.

“You two are making so much noise I can hear it all the way from inside the house!” Goro’s mum complains but he can tell from the uptick on the ends of her lips that she’s not upset with the boys, “What’s got you boys so worked up?”

“Ren said I couldn’t be Batman!” Goro tells on him immediately, pointing at him with an accusatory finger.

Ren gasps and put a hand to his chest dramatically, “Liar! I never said that! I just said you’d look dumb in a Batman costume!”

“That means that I couldn’t be Batman! Batman doesn't look dumb in his costume!” Goro insists and his mother steps in.

“Boys, boys, please. I think what Ren is trying to say is that wearing a Batman costume would be in fact quite silly,” she sits down on the grass outside, deciding against joining them in the tent, “You could still be a great detective without having to wear such a ridiculous costume, right?”

Goro pulls his knees up to his face and pouts like Ren did before, “I could still be Batman,” he mumbles and his mother chuckles.

“Okay, yes, you can be Batman, right Ren?” She winks at the fluffy haired boy quite obviously when Goro isn’t looking.

Ren opens his mouth and a little ‘ah’ escapes him when he realises what the wink meant, “Yeah you totally can!”

He shuffles on his knees to sit next to Goro and puts his arm around him, “And when you are then I’ll definitely be there as… um… not Joker! I don’t wanna do the creepy face painting stuff. He scares me.”

“...Penguin?” Goro offers, less pouty then before.

“Oh, I could have a top hat,” Ren looks away from him, now imagining an older version of himself in a top hat, monocle, suit and cane. To the younger version of himself, he looked totally badass, “You’d still have to live in a cave though.”

“I can have a tent there like there like this one,” Goro smiles again and the two begin re-imagining their lives as a notorious thief who steals all the money and treasure he can get his hands on while the other, a renowned detective, chases him down for it.

His mother leaves not long after that, telling them to be a little quieter while also asking them to go to sleep soon. Even though it was the holidays, the two boys still needed their sleep.

They settle in for the night about ten minutes after that, getting into their own sleeping bags and turning off the torch. They turn away from each other and try to fall asleep.

Darkness falls over them once more, but they aren’t afraid. What keeps them up is all of the sugar they consumed prior. Neither would ever admit to that.

“Hey, Goro?”

“Yeah?” He asks, his voice sleepy.

“We won’t actually fight when we’re all grown up and stuff, right?” Ren asks in a timid voice before whispering, “I don’t want to lose you as a friend.”

Goro turns around in his sleeping bag, now face to face with Ren who managed to silently turn around as well, “You’re an idiot.”

“Huh?” Ren’s eyes go wide, “Why?”

“Because even if you went bad or something, I knew you’d have a reason for it,” Goro explains, “You’d have to do something really horrible for me to not want to cover things up for you.”

“So, you’d stay as my friend even if I did something horrible?” Ren asks for reassurance.

“Would you do that for me?”

Ren nods quickly, “Yeah!”

“Then so would I.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”


	7. Influence

It wasn’t often that Lala-chan would make him work so late, although Ren understands that tonight is an exception. It seemed like there was never an end to all of the customers coming to the bar to buy booze that Saturday night. It’s a good thing that at least he doesn’t have class tomorrow.

It wasn’t that he needed the money desperately, after all, during his time at uni, Sojiro had welcomed him back to the attic of the café, offering to feed him whenever necessary. Even without him, there were plenty of other people in Tokyo who would have been happy to house him for an extended period of time.

But Ren liked working at Crossroads, talking to its patrons was often fulfilling if not a little strange at times, though so far no one had addressed him with ill intent. None that was directed at him anyway.

What made his job at the bar that much better than any of his other part time work was that now that Ren was a little older, even if he was just a Freshman, Lala-chan finally gave into his whining and allowed the 19-year-old to crossdress at work. It started off terribly, Ren could barely stand up straight on the heels he was given let alone serve people at the bar, and Lala-chan just told him to practice before doing it at work. His hard work paid off rather quickly and he went from average student Amamiya Ren just looking to make a few yen to Akira-chan, a rosy-cheeked girl who could melt anyone with the flutter of her eyelashes.

Despite how busy it was, working behind the bar was still the same as always; making drinks, giggling at some of the comments he’d received from the business men while Lala usually tended to the patrons that served Ren perverted glances.

“I could probably get them arrested on some tax evasion charges if they’re really bothering you,” Ren hears someone sitting at the bar on his left side slurring his words.

Ren looks away from the last person he served with a kind smile, to his shock and surprising finding the owner of the voice to be one very drunk Akechi Goro who was casually stirring his drink. His cheeks were red, and his eyelids were drooping, but aside from that he just looked bored.

Goro was still the last person he’d ever expect to show up here, and as much as he wanted to question him about it, he knew he couldn’t. Not here, not while he was still working and not when there were many prying ears. Instead, he plays up his role and giggles, “Oh I couldn’t allow you to go through all of that trouble~,” he replies with a smile and a hand on Goro's arm, but Goro’s expression remains the same

“I don’t care about that, Ren,” Goro gives away the game and chugs the rest of his drink, “I’m already fucked as it is, so what’s getting some perverts arrested gonna do?”

He wants to correct Goro, tell him that isn’t his name here, but with the state he’s in, he decides against it and simply sighs, picking his empty glass up and saying in his normal voice, “I’m cutting you off,” he pulls Goro’s empty glass away but the other chuckles darkly.

“You think I’ve been buying these myself?” Goro nods towards a group of men in suits in a booth at the back of the bar, “They’ve been forcing this crap down my throat all night.”

Ren’s jaw drops a little, and he’s surprised that neither him nor Lala-chan had managed to notice any of this. Then again that was probably why they chose the bar in the first place- with Crossroads busier than ever it was the perfect opportunity to do whatever they wanted without getting caught… but then what was Goro doing with such a shady group of people in the first place?

Before he can form an answer, Ren decides to bide his time by pouring a glass of water and placing it in front of Goro, “I can have them kicked out if you want?”

Goro picks up the glass and shakes his head and replies ominously, “No… I can’t let them think I’m weak now. Not after all of this…”

He’s certain that Goro didn’t intend to ever say anything like that out loud, especially not to Ren. Instead of making up some sort of lie or excuse, Goro downs the glass and sets it back on the table with a thud, “Forget I ever said anything. Actually, forget me altogether, Ren. It would be in your best interest to stay away from someone as toxic as me.”

Goro gets off the stool, leaving behind a very confused and conflicted Ren behind the bar in favour of the booth.

Toxic? What was he talking about? Ren knew Goro the longest out of everyone the other knew and now he was telling him to stay away? What the hell was that about?

Despite that, Ren couldn’t be mad at Goro. Their conversation was brief, but he knew Goro was hurting bad and it was all because of something terrible he got himself involved in. Ren was becoming even more desperate to know what exactly was going on, but there was no way he’d find anything else out from Goro himself.

Instead, he pushes his luck by asking Lala-chan about that particular group once things calm down.

“Hmm? Those men? Actually, it’s good that you brought it up. I don’t want you interacting with them. They don’t come here often but when they do, they’re always trouble,” Lala-chan explains but it only worries Ren further, something she picks up on, “I’d kick them out of course but they’re all connected to the Prime Minister in one way or another. If I did that, they would find some quick way to run me out of town.”

“Or worse,” Ohya, who had only recently shown up and was already tipsy, offers, “There’s soooo many strange incidents that occur whenever someone gets too nosy about the Prime Minister, so it’s probably better you don’t talk to them.”

This only adds on to the pile of questions he had about the celebrity detective, which Ren hopes the nosiest reporter he knows can answer, “Do you know why Goro Akechi was with them then? It didn’t seem like he was there by choice.”

Ohya shrugs, “I can’t tell you for sure- Akechi’s private life is a mystery to everyone- but from what my sources tell me, there’s rumours that during Shido’s campaign, Akechi was the one who helped him get to power by conveniently solving a bunch of cases that made all of the other candidates look worse- and now he’s just clearing up Shido’s messes…” her voice turns into a whisper the more she explains, but later turns back to normal, “But I don’t have any evidence to turn it into a full story and even I don’t have the balls to fight Shido… hey kid, you know Akechi personally though, right? Think you can get this gal acquainted?”

Ren shakes his head, looking back down at the bar he started wiping, “Sorry, I’m not sure if even I know him anymore.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will I ever write something without any angst and pain? Maybe one day who knows (I actually do have something fluffier in store for the next chapter, thanks for sticking around through this one!)


	8. Bet

It was bad enough that Leblanc only had one tiny bathroom.

What was worse that somehow both Ren and Goro end up locked inside it while eavesdropping on all of Ren’s friends.

Goro’s still unclear on just how they ended up locked in Leblanc’s bathroom in the first place, but revealing themselves now would’ve been the worst idea either of them had in a while.

Ren remembers.

And he makes sure to bring it up in public for the rest of the week only to further embarrass Goro.

The two had only recently started dating, and while Ren’s friends were aware that he was once childhood friends with the now famous Goro Akechi, neither of them were open to the idea of having rumours spread around should they announce their status as a couple. Ren already felt harassed enough at school for having a criminal record, and Goro didn’t want to waste his TV appearances on dismissing whatever gossip and false rumours the public would come up with.

This also meant that now the two had to hide their relationship from everyone, although they quickly discovered that it was far easier said than done.

Ren’s friends, who Goro has yet to be introduced to, were extremely nosy people, especially when it concerned Ren’s life. Boss probably knew but he either respected their privacy enough not to tell Futaba and his friends or he just didn’t care enough.

Ren’s fairly certain it’s a combination of both.

After almost four weeks of doing this, the two of them got more and more comfortable being around each other as a couple, which usually resulted in either slip-ups in public or direct attempts made by either one of them to risk getting caught, all for the thrill of it.

That apparently included Ren pulling his boyfriend into Leblanc’s bathroom when he saw Ann, Ryuji, Yusuke, Makoto, Futaba and Haru all pile into the café unannounced, instead of the more obvious approach of just acting like a barista and his client.

It wasn’t a secret to the group that Goro frequented Leblanc. However, what would’ve tipped the others off about the whole situation was Ren telling them earlier that day about working at the flower shop and being too busy to hang out with them, while Goro insisted that he had an urgent case to work on and would once again have to avoid meeting the group.

Obviously, both of those things were a lie.

And now, the two of them are trapped in the bathroom, waiting until the others are too distracted to notice were exactly they arrived from or in the worst-case scenario, until they’re gone.

With an ear pressed to the door, Goro keeps listening into the argument Ann and Ryuji had started about some online meme that Goro wish he'd never seen, while Ren tries to keep some distance between the two of them. It’s impossible, and he ends up elbowing Goro in the back, “Ren-!”

Ren moves quickly and covers Goro’s mouth with his hand, shushing him and all the while pressing himself up against the other, “Do you want them to figure out so easily?” He asks in a sharp whisper, his mouth right against his ear. Goro shakes his head, but Ren doesn’t move either his hand or his body.

Goro hums questioningly and it slowly dawns on him exactly what’s going on. He groans quietly and removes Ren’s hand from his mouth, “I didn’t realise being so close to me literally makes you vibrate.”

“Huh?” Ren asks and looks down. While being locked in a tight room with his objectively hot boyfriend was making him a little light-headed, he also realises his phone’s been buzzing against Goro’s leg this whole time. Reaching down and trying his best not to think about what else he could be doing with his hands so low, Ren pulls out his phone and reads the text out loud.

“If you guys are done blowing each other, there’s two cups of coffee waiting for you.”

Goro is doing his best to hide a blush and act completely serious while Ren chortles, “I fail to see how this is amusing,” Goro comments, unlocking the door, “Here goes the end of my career,” he leaves the confined space of the bathroom to find everyone staring at the bathroom door expectantly.

Ryuji, Ann and Futaba groan, while everyone pulls out 1,000 yen and slides it over to Haru who sips on her coffee calmly, “You don’t even need the money!” Ryuji argues.

“No, but it is proof that I was right, and you were not,” She takes the money and puts it in her pocket, “Although I admit that I didn’t expect to win with a bet of two years.”

Goro throws his arms up in the air while Ren takes a seat at the bar, picking up his cup of coffee, “You were betting on us?”

Futaba giggles, “Even Yusuke knew you two were into each other before you did, detective. We just decided to make all of this more fun for us. So,” she looks over the group, “I bet you all 1,000 yen they’ll get married in spring of 2020!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dark sun can kiss my salty butt tbh


	9. Hotel

Goro never expected to feel almost thrilled when he happened to eavesdrop on a conversation about Shido having a private and undocumented meeting outside of his office. Hearing the man talk made Goro sick to his stomach, but he’d endure it if it meant getting actual evidence tying him to any sort of crime. It was all that he’d need to get his office searched by the police and even they weren’t so incompetent that they wouldn’t find all of the incriminating evidence Shido kept close to his chest.

His life’s work might finally pay off if he’s able to record that meeting. There wasn’t a chance that Shido was having a completely innocent meeting outside of his office, not to mention that this meeting had to be important. He did everything in his office shamelessly, including making Goro clean up after his messes and helping him getting elected through all sorts of favours. If he was willing to risk doing something sketchy outside of his office, this was surely worth it.

Which is how he ends up following him to the Wilton hotel, a place he’d only ever been to once or twice when performing said favours.

Goro continues to follow Shido through the corridors, slowly feeling sickly and lightheaded, terrible memories of this place resurfacing every time he blinks. He begins to shiver. Ducking behind a wall, he closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths and begins slowly counting down from one hundred.

He’s back to normal when he’s gotten down to seventy five, and he finds himself extremely lucky that Shido’s still waiting for the elevator when Goro pokes his head back out.

The elevator doors open and Goro’s ready to keep an eye out for what button Shido’s going to press, but there’s one thing that he definitely didn’t expect.

And that’s his best friend leaving the elevator and bumping into Shido.

Goro can’t hear much, but he knows that Shido’s going off about today's youth not having manners and spouting whatever other bullshit was in his repertoire. But it’s not Shido that has him worried anymore. It’s Ren.

Simply bumping into someone shouldn’t cause someone so much distress, and yet he’d never seen him so out of it before. It was like seeing Shido was bringing up something within him that didn’t allow him to move any further, just blocking the entrance to the elevator.

It would all be over if Goro stepped in to calm Ren down; Shido would know he was in the building, become suspicious of him and probably cancel the meeting. In the worst case scenario he might even figure out that the detective was following him.

He’s made up his mind when one of Shido’s bodyguards tries to move Ren out of the way. Striding over to the elevator, he lifts up his hand and pulls off the best smile he can manage in this situation. It’s extremely forced, however practiced, and it doesn’t seem like anyone besides Ren notices, “Oh there you are, Ren! I thought we were supposed to meet at the entrance?”

He plays oblivious to Shido, who’s frown is only a small taste of whatever questioning he’d have to answer to later that evening, grabbing Ren’s shivering hand and pulling him away from the group, “I suppose the buffet will be closed now, hmm? Oh well, I suppose we could always find some place else to eat.”

As expected, Ren follows him silently down the hallway. Goro makes a few turns until they’re in a secluded hallway, then turns around, placing his hands on Ren’s shoulders delicately, “Close your eyes,” he says gently, and Ren follows his orders, “Breath with me.”

Goro sets a slow pace, with Ren doing exactly what he's told. It takes a few minutes, but eventually Ren stops shaking and opens his eyes again, “you were following that man, right?” Ren guesses, looking down at the ground, and it’s a surprise to Goro just how observant he was, “I fucked up your case. I’m sorry.”

Goro shakes his head and gently puts a hand to Ren’s face, lifting his head up so he can look at him, “You didn’t fuck up anything, Ren. It’s just work.”

His work being what drove him, Goro expected that in a few hours’ time it would finally hit him just how much longer he’d have to wait until he got his revenge. Although with this new development, it seemed like there would be more to it than just his own vendetta. Why would Ren suddenly get a panic attack like that? And what was he doing at the hotel anyway?

He gets an answer to his second question rather quickly, “I was with a friend of mine. She invited me here...” Ren explains and puts his own hand over Goro’s and moves it away, “I should let you get back to what you were doing.”

Goro shakes his head once more. He couldn’t blame Ren for whatever had gone down, rather whatever cruel fate had brought them all to one place, however by now following Shido was far too obvious, and he couldn’t just leave Ren like this, “I’ll get back to that some other time. Let’s go back to Leblanc for now, yes?”


	10. Alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw; suicide mentions, blood

No one was talking about it.

Ren couldn’t understand why everyone went on living their lives like nothing had happened when everything in his world had taken a turn for the worse. No one was waiting for him at the classroom door by the time lunch rolled around. No one was sitting on the bench outside when school was finally over.

No one answered the door when Ren rang the doorbell.

It was like Goro Akechi never existed in the first place, and no one was there to prove it otherwise.

Ren’s parents often pushed him to play with the other kids, or even invited their parents over so he had the chance to play with them at his house, but he didn’t want to. The last time someone came around, Ren ended up punching them when they picked up the figurine Goro always liked playing with whenever he came over.

He spent the rest of that evening crying while his mother told him off, but it wasn’t because he was in trouble or that he even regretted punching his classmate when the other wouldn’t let go of the figurine.

It was because no one cared that Goro was gone, and no one cared just how much it devasted Ren knowing that they were both now so alone.

And although no one was talking about it, Ren couldn’t just forget what had happened like everyone wanted him to. He refused to pretend like everything was fine, like Goro hadn’t run to his house with hands covered in blood and begging for his help less than a month ago. Like he hadn’t rushed over to Goro’s house while his mother cried out after him and told him not to leave the house. Like he hadn’t seen the blood dripping down onto the bathroom floor at Goro’s house.

Ren’s mother obviously wanted him to forget about it, to never speak of it again. Ren’s father said nothing on the matter.

Whenever he brought the topic up, asking for an explanation, or when would he be able to see Goro next, his family always fell silent until they could think of a topic to distract him with. Most of the time it was about his falling grades or his bad behaviour at school, but it just made him think of Goro more.

He helped him with his homework more than anyone else did so of course his grades were falling now with his best friend gone. His best friend was always there to get him out of trouble, so of course he’d get caught for all of the bad things he did at school.

Goro kept him grounded, and with his best friend gone, Ren felt more alone than ever.

* * *

A new girl shows up in Ren’s class a few weeks later, and he hates her already. She’s way too nice to him, far too forgiving and looks way too much like Goro. The teacher makes her sit in front of him and it only makes things worse.

One day she turns around and asks Ren if he has a spare pen she could borrow. He ignores her and keeps doodling in his book.

He caught a glimpse of her writing once and it’s too pretty for a nine-year-old. She’s trying to hard to please everyone around her, he thinks, and Ren just wants to tell her that it’s not going to make a difference to how everyone sees her. It didn't change how the adults gave Goro dirty looks for simply existing.

He stays quiet.

* * *

She sits next to him on the bench outside during lunch time. Ren wants to kick her off, but he’s gotten into enough trouble already, so he simply tells her to go away.

She doesn’t listen and instead tells him that she hates maths completely unprompted.

It makes him feel a little better.

It doesn’t stop him from hating her.

* * *

The next week he loses his favourite pen once again and he searches for it when everyone's left the classroom for lunch. He doesn’t care if he’s caught by the teachers, they shouldn’t be surprised anymore by how he misbehaves. They should know by now that detentions and suspensions from school don’t work on him.

He kneels down next to the same cupboard where he last found his pen and he looks underneath it. There’s nothing there but dust, and Ren groans when he realises how much harder this is going to be. When he stands back up and turns around, he finds the girl standing behind him and nearly jumps.

In her hands she holds a pen with a cat at the end of it and Ren can’t take it anymore.

He lunges at her, snatching the pen and using his other hand to punch her. Not expecting such a violent reaction, the girl collapses onto the floor and grabs her cheek. Tears start to well up in her eyes.

“Stop it!” Ren shouts and kicks her, “I don’t need your stupid help!” He kicks the girl again and she screams in pain. Tears stream down both of their faces, but it doesn’t stop Ren's abuse, not when he doesn't even realise that he's crying too, “I don’t want any friends! I just want Goro back!”

The screaming, cries and general commotion gets a passing-by teachers’ attention, and she rushes in. She does what she can to lift and drag a kicking Ren away from the poor girl.

As soon as her attackers out of reach, the girl scrambles to her feet, and despite all of the bruising, she manages to run out of the classroom.

Ren doesn’t calm down even with her gone and continues to thrash about in the teacher’s arms, “I hate you! I hate all of you! Just leave me alone! I don’t need any of you!”

With the pencil still in his hand, his thrashing results in him accidentally stabbing the teacher in the arm with it. There’s not enough strength for it to cause any lasting damage, but it’s enough to draw blood and disorient her.

She drops Ren with a shout, grabbing her bleeding arm and the boy uses the opportunity to run out of the classroom, out of the school, beyond any of the nearby houses and over to the riverbank. As he’s nearing the water, he trips and falls over a rock buried in the ground and hidden among the uncut grass, suddenly landing in the water.

He scrapes his knee on the way down and his arm hits a rock in the very shallow river, but he doesn’t move or do anything to help with the pain, only crying more and more as the water washes away any blood he had on his body.

There’s no one to get him out of trouble this time.

No one who can help him clean up his injuries.

No one who will listen to him.

There’s no one there to hear him screaming in the river.


	11. Nostalgic

“Remind me again why I agreed to this?”

The dry leaves beneath Goro’s shoes crinkle with each step he and his boyfriend take while trekking through the forest. The getaway is quite a nice change of pace for the both of them, with Goro no longer in the literal spotlight at the TV shows as well as his adoring, if a little obsessive, fans, while Ren can take a break and breathe in some fresh, mountain air, away from the millions of part time jobs he has on top of his work at college.

Ren turns around, only a few steps ahead of Goro and clearly more excited about what they're going to do out of the two of them. When his boyfriend stops a couple of feet away, Ren shuffles over to him and cups his face in his hands, “Because I knew you’d secretly enjoy doing this but won’t ever admit to it, and it’s a nice throwback to, well, y’know…”

“Camping out in my mother’s garden?” With his face pointed towards the man in front of him, it’s hard for Goro to look away from Ren’s eyes, but he tries to anyway, “I suppose that’s somewhat nostalgic… and quite thoughtful of you, considering.”

Ren chuckles and pulls Goro closer to him, gently kissing him on the lips. It’s summer, and they’d been hiking up a mountain for the better half of three hours now, so he tastes a little salty, but it doesn’t bother Ren in the slightest.

Goro is the first to pull away, “You’re gross.”

Ren laughs some more and Goro follows up with a smile. He finally let’s go of Goro’s face and turns back to lead them to their campsite, “Hey, you don’t exactly smell like roses either.”

“Oh please,” Goro scoffs, following closely behind him, “I always smell like an angel and you know it.”

“Feeling pretty full of ourselves today, aren’t we?” Ren grins when they’re once again thrown into their usual banter, and Goro swiftly replies.

“You’re not denying my claim, so then it must be true,” Goro chuckles and quickens his pace so that now he could be at the front rather than walking behind him. Ren stops, giving him a confused look at the same time.

“You don’t know where we’re going.”

Goro reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone, showcasing it to Ren, “No, but the benefits of being a famed detective mean I can simply search for it on my navigation app.”

Ren folds his arms and scoffs, “I get it, you don’t trust me to get us there so you’re using whatever cool new phone your sugar daddy gave you to get us there,” there’s a mostly playful tone to what he says, but despite it Goro scrunches up his face and visibly shivers at the implications, his tone suddenly shifting and becoming more serious.

“First of all, I beg of you to never call my sponsor that-,”

“Sorry,” Ren interrupts him, but doesn't follow up to ask why the joke bothers him so much. He saves the questioning for later.

Goro shakes his head and looks back down at the phone in front of him, “It’s fine, you know now. Secondly, of course I don’t trust you, not after you made us search half of Tokyo for a bakery Ann recommended only to discover it to be one street over from the bar you work at.”

“I-!” Ren lifts his hand up and begins to object, which is when Goro pauses his search to give him an expectant look, curious about what defence Ren might have. He has none, “Okay, well yeah, I messed that up spectacularly, but we had fun chatting on the way!”

“We got soaked from the rain.”

“I said fun chatting, not fun experiencing the weather.”

Goro’s phone pings as it finds their intended destination, “Thirdly,” Goro continues as he drags his phone on the navigation app to look at how much further they really had to go and what their route looked like, “I was getting tired of looking at your ass for three hours.”

Ren gasps and puts a hand to his chest, pretend hurt appearing on his face, “b-but… you love my ass!”

Goro rolls his eyes and turns in the direction of their destination, “Perhaps you’re right, but if you’ve dragged me here to trek through the forest then I would much rather observe the nature surrounding us than something I have access to all the time.”

“You make me sound like such a slut.”

Goro begins walking forward, “Am I wrong?”

Ren sighs and drops his hand, following his boyfriend, “Only for you,” he replies with a grin replacing the grimace on his lips. He looks up, only to find that now their positions have changed in his favour, he believes, “You know what, I’m not gonna complain anymore. Screw trees, I’d much rather have a view like this.”

“So, you’re a pervert as much as you are a slut,” Goro throws out as nonchalantly as if he were discussing the weather. This time Ren gasps for real, followed up by more laughter.

During the next hour, they're both silently walking through the forest, but neither feel the need to fill up the air with random conversation, finding comfort in the mere presence of the other.

Suddenly, Ren reaches out with his hand and stops Goro from walking any further. The other turns around, “You know if we keep stopping like this it’ll be nightfall before we get there.”

“I just…” Ren hesitates from his uncertainty on how to phrase his emotions. Goro waits patiently for him to come up with the right words, “I want to remember this, y’know? It’s stupid and corny, I know, but I love the moments when you’re you again, like you were back when we were kids, when you didn’t hold back on your real thoughts or feelings…”

Goro looks down at the ground, now unsure of how he should react to Ren’s sudden shift from playful to serious. The silence hangs in the air for a much shorter time than Goro thinks, and eventually he comes up with a reply, “Stupid and corny, that sounds about right for you.”

Ren laughs again, letting go of Goro’s arm, “And yet, you love me for it.”

Goro smiles, this time certain of his words, “I do,” he steps a little closer and puts his free hand on Ren’s shoulder, “And I know you love me too,” he gently pulls Ren towards him and plants a chaste kiss on his lips, “hmm... but you’re still sweaty and gross.”


	12. Focus

“It’ll totally be worth it, I swear!” Ryuji insists as he pulls on Ren’s blazer, dragging him through the alleyway while the citizens of Shiubya look on with a concerned look and speed up their pace when they pass by the two boys.

They eventually stop at a building, and Ren looks it up and down. The cat in his bag takes an interest as well, popping his head out to look at what all of the commotion was about, “The gym?”

“Yeah!” Ryuji grins and finally let’s go of the arm of his blazer, which Ren is convinced is stretched out now. He tries to straighten it out while the cat ducks back down into his bag.

“Even Morgana thinks it’s a stupid idea.”

Ryuji groans, “Well, Morgana’s just a dumb cat, he doesn’t know any better.”

Ren looks down and pulls off one of the straps of his bag along his arm. He reaches in and pets the soft fur. The cat doesn’t react in any particular way, but it’s progress from how it first reacted to being petted, “He didn’t mean that. He’s just angry because you keep biting his fingers.”

“Hell yeah I’m angry ‘bout that!” Ryuji points at the bag accusingly, “Why’d you carry him everywhere anyway?”

“…he’s my emotional support bag animal,” Ren tries, but Ryuji understands even less of the guys strange behaviour. He’s only had the cat for about three months and Ren’s grown more attached to it than to anyone else at school. Ren’s pretty convinced that Ryuji’s also jealous, but he doesn’t bring it up.

“Anyway!” Ryuji tries going back to the original topic, “I used to come here all the time back when I did track. I still try coming here as often as I can, but it’s nothing like before. Hard to be motivated without much to work for…” he admits and turns to the door, “That’s why you’re here!”

“You want me to cheer you on?” Ren zips the bag up and gives Ryuji a confused look, “I’m not a cheerleader.”

“No!” Ryuji groans again, “It’s like… you feel pressured into doing stuff in places like these when other people are watching you, right? None of the other guys wanted to come here anyway and I knew you had some free time.”

Ren thinks of leaving as soon as he hears that he’s Ryuji’s last choice of companion, but what stops him is the jingle of Big Bang Burger coming from down the alleyway. He’s intent on completing the challenge, determined not to lose to a burger, but he can’t possibly stay in shape if he does that and only exercises during PE.

With newfound determination, he strides into the building, Ryuji happily following him inside, if a little confused by the sudden change in demeanour.

* * *

Once they’re inside, Ren lets Morgana out of his bag, and the cat obediently follows him. No no one seems to make any comment on the sudden appearance of the creature in the gym. It’s well behaved and doesn’t scratch or even so much as meow at anything, so the staff doesn’t question it and lets it be.

Ryuji leaves him briefly to use the bathroom after their warm up, and Ren’s left sitting on the bench. Having left his phone back in the locker room, he casually glances around the gym, not in particular search of anything. His eyes finally land on someone he doesn’t recognise at first lifting weights. He can’t see their face but admires their movements. They were clearly here alone, with none of the other people at the gym being anywhere near him.

Eventually, the guy sits up and wipes his face with a towel, further obscuring his face. It’s for the best, Ren thinks as he ogles the man’s arm muscles moving around, gleaming from sweat. His record was already bad enough without the listing of being kicked out for perversion.

When he spots that the man is about to move the towel away from his face, Ren quickly looks down at the ground in front of him to avoid accidental eye contact. It’s at that moment that he hears Ryuji coming back to him, and he looks up when the blonds shoes come in view, “You ready for more then?”

“Y-yeah,” Ren doesn’t realise how flustered he really is until he stutters out his reply. He tries to get up, but notices something in between his legs getting in his way. So instead, he remains seated, cursing his hormones and young body for popping random boners just from staring at some guys arms, “Actually, why don’t you start and show me how it’s done?” He offers, hoping whatever Ryuji does will be long enough to make his problem go away on its own.

Ryuji does just that, choosing to go to the treadmill first and remaining blissfully ignorant of Ren’s problem. He’s relieved to find Morgana jumping into his lap and giving him a temporary distraction. He concentrates on petting the cat’s soft fur, ignoring his current surroundings as he moves his hand along the cat who somehow seemed happier than ever to be petted. Ren starts considering how his new cat might have psychic abilities of some kind when he's interrupted.

“Ren?” He hears a familiar voice call him out of his focus, but it’s not Ryuji’s.

He looks up and finds the owner of those too nice arms, “I didn’t expect to see you here of all places,” his best friend says. Of course, it had to be Goro in that tight white vest that showed off his nicely sculpted arms, didn’t it? Was that why he wore a jacket like that?

It had to be, Ren concludes as his problem makes an unfortunate reappearance. His fans would go wild if they found out that beyond having a pretty face, the high school detective also hid a very nice body underneath the school blazers and casual vests, “Uh… y-yeah, I-I’m here with a friend,” he mumbles out semi-coherently, and the action results in Goro becoming suspicious of him.

“Are you alright Ren? You’re very red,” Goro lifts his hand up and presses the back of it against Ren’s cheek, then his forehead, “You’re also quite warm. Are you perhaps ill?”

It’s too much to deal with, and Ren suddenly stands up, dropping Morgana to the floor, “It’s fine! I-I just need to c-cool off… I’ll be right back,” the embarrassment is enough to get him fast walking past Goro, past the other gym goers and into the bathroom and locks it behind him.

Splashing cold water seems to help a little, but it doesn’t resolve one of his many problems.

How the hell was he meant to serve Goro coffee now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may have been inspire by the shuake discord...


	13. Stray

Done with his interview for the day, Goro waves off his fans with a practiced smile, and as soon as he’s sure no one’s requesting his presence for anything, he goes to his changing room. There’s little waiting for him there, mostly just his briefcase and the umbrella he made sure to bring that day.

Knowing that all he’s going to do is go home, he pulls out some wet wipes that lay on the dresser in the changing room, and wipes the make up off of his face with them, sighing in relief once it’s all off. He’ll have to keep his face down so no one on the train catches the dark circles under his eyes, but he feels that it’s worth it, nonetheless.

To avoid as many people as possible on his way home, he leaves through the back door of the TV station that leads to a mostly deserted alleyway save for a tiny Shiba Inu. It doesn’t move when Goro makes his appearance, mostly only looking up, but it stays in it's place. Even when Goro gets closer to it, it doesn’t run off or growl at him. It must be a stray, and a starved one at that, Goro thinks, and remembers he has some melon bread he bought earlier that day in his briefcase.

It’s not a difficult treat to find, and he figures he could spare the abandoned puppy some food, so he pulls it out and carefully approaches it, crouching down. The dog is clearly intrigued, and it doesn’t run away, instead choosing to sniff the bread Goro was offering in his open hand. Deciding that it was, in fact, edible, the puppy grabs at it with his teeth and begins munching on it, taking it away from Goro.

Content with his action, Goro stands back up and leaves the alleyway.

Perhaps he could try bringing some more food in case he found it out in the alley again.

* * *

His multiple jobs keep him busy throughout the next few weeks, either by running ‘errands’ for Shido and gaining favours from businessmen and politicians for him, or by taking part in as many interviews as he can fit in his already tight schedule, but never does he forget about that puppy. It’s confusing, since Goro never considered himself an animal person at all. It was mostly Ren that ran around and stroked everything that would allow itself to be stroked when they were children, going so far as getting his own stray cat now that he lived in the attic of Leblanc, all while Goro would observe from afar.

The puppy is an exception, and each time he does an interview he makes sure to have something edible on him so that he may feed the puppy afterwards. He only sees it as an act of kindness, nothing more, which is why it begins to bother him when the puppy gets enough strength to follow him out of the alleyway.

It’s cute, he thinks, but there’s no way he has time to take care of a puppy full time. He expected the stray to simply get strong enough to actually go look for food on his own, not to follow him, but being the only one that fed the puppy, Goro understands how misleading that may have been for it.

It doesn’t stop him from picking the dog up when they’re at the station so that he can hide it in his coat and take it home.

He doesn’t even understand his own reasoning behind such reckless behaviour, and yet here he is on the train to Shibuya while the puppy miraculously stays quiet, even if it does move around far more than it should. At least it’s not rush hour, and the trains are nowhere near as packed as they usually are.

He knows he has nothing at home for the dog, so he goes to the next best place he can think of.

When they’re in Yongen-Jaya, the detective pulls the puppy out and it obediently follows him to the café. It sniffs around at the door of Leblanc hesitantly, but Goro just picks it back up with his free hand, holds it under his arm and walks inside where Sojiro and Ren are both working behind the counter.

“Welcome-,” Sojiro begins and frowns at the sight of the dog, “Just because we allow cats in here doesn’t immediately make this an animal shelter, detective.”

Goro shakes his head, “I wasn’t planning on staying very long, actually… I…” what was he here for? Initially he was mostly hoping Ren could just adopt the puppy himself or recommend where he could take it. That was the plan, but Sojiro’s harsh words finally make him realise why he felt so strongly about the puppy, why he fed it and why he decided to save it in the end.

Just like him, it was abandoned and left to rot away, far from anyone that it could bother, out of sight.

Then maybe, if he could save the puppy and give it a new, loving home, it wouldn’t end up as messed up as he was, or worse, dead. But he knows he’s not the right person for it, he can’t be the one to give it a loving home _because_ he’s so messed up and can barely take care of himself, let alone another living being.

“You gonna live with a dog now?” Ren asks, forcing him to make a choice then and there.

Except Goro doesn’t say anything, instead he continues to block the entrance by staring down at the wiggling puppy under his arm.

It’s Ren who brings him back out of his trance again, making the choice for him, “He can sleep here tonight, if you want. Morgana’s with someone else right now anyway, and I’m guessing you don’t have anything for it either.”

“H-he can?” Goro stutters and looks over to Boss, waiting for his approval.

The frown disappears and he waves his hand in the air, “Yeah, yeah, he can. But if he destroys something, one of you is paying for the damage. Oh, and he can’t stay here that long, you’ll have to make up your mind about him sooner rather than later.”

Goro sets the dog down onto the floor, and it immediately starts sniffing around the room out of curiosity. Goro watches it with a smile, “A-ah, thank you, both. I apologise for just… bringing it here unannounced, but I assure you, I'll find a solution for this as quickly as possible!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was some talk of Goro and puppies and I couldn't resist.
> 
> To be continued....


	14. Persistence

There’s a pleasant breeze that passes through the riverbank, causing the leaves above Goro to rustle gently. A couple of them fall off and land on Goro’s notebook, but he just swats it away and goes back to his equations. Rarely did the other children come by here in September, which meant that the only distractions he would get were the couples passing by or adults who were out walking their dogs. Still, they stayed out of his way, which is more than enough for him.

He knew that the treatment he got from everyone in the village upset his mother, he’d caught her frowning on a few occasions when he came back home with a bruise made by one of his classmates, or whenever people crossed onto the other side of the street just to avoid bumping into either of them, which made sitting under a tree where no one would interrupt him doing his homework all the more welcome.

However, that wasn’t entirely true. Ever since moving here, the kid from across the street would follow him everywhere, and even after learning of Goro’s origins, the kid just stuck to him even more. Ren was extremely clingy, and without any experience in dealing with such a nuisance, Goro didn’t know how to get rid of him in the first place.

Such thoughts stopped coming to him after the kid took a punch for Goro, and then proceeded to get into trouble for fighting the kids that bullied him. He looks up from his notebook when he hears someone approaching him and sees the bruise bellow Ren’s eye, he knows exactly where it’s from, “You should’ve let him punch me. It’s not going to stop just cause you’re here.”

Ren shrugs, sitting down opposite Goro and busies himself with pulling out the grass between them by each individual strand, “They didn’t hurt you, so I think it was worth it.”

“You got detention,” Goro points out and turns back to his homework.

Ren shrugs again, “Not the first time that’s happened. It’s not going to be the last.”

“Don’t you care about how everyone sees you?” Goro asks, the grip on his pen tightening. It was too late for him, his very existence already being a hinderance to making any kind of friends in the village, but Ren was a normal kid with a normal family, so why should he suffer on Goro’s behalf? “You’re not going to make any friends like this.”

“Not even you?” Ren asks and shuffles closer until his shoulder touches Goro’s, “I don’t need a lot of friends. But I wanna be yours.”

“Why?”

Ren shrugs for a third time, “I dunno. You look lonely, and I don’t think anyone should look lonely. So, I want to help you not feel lonely.”

Goro shuffles a little to the side so that his and Ren’s shoulders are no longer touching, “I like being alone. It means I can finish my homework.”

Ren, clearly with no sense of personal space, leans over to have his face directly in front of Goro’s notebook, making it impossible for the latter to write anything down, “Ew, is that maths? Are you any good at it? I hate it, and I’m really bad at it too.”

Goro pushes on his head, shoving him out of the way of his homework, “Maybe you need a tutor,” Goro mumbles, bringing his knees and the notebook closer to him so that Ren doesn’t have the space to do that again.

The fluffy haired kid seems to finally take some kind of hint and backs off, moving back to his previous position in front of Goro where he could pull at the grass. He’s quiet for a few minutes, up until realisation hits him and he gasps loudly, and more dramatically than Goro had anticipated. It makes the kid jump a little, and luckily Ren doesn’t notice.

He points at the diligent kid, “You could be my tutor! You know how to maths, right?”

“I have better things to do,” Goro deadpans without so much as looking at him, “Go find someone else to bother.”

Ren shakes his head, “I don’t like anyone else.”

There’s no way he’ll be able to solve equations like this, not with his safe spot now completely ruined by the presence of this loud-mouthed child who would not leave him be. It’s even worse than the bullies. At least they get bored of beating him up eventually.

Goro closes his notebook, stands up, and walks away from the tree. Ren just about scrambles to his feet without tripping in order to follow Goro, “I didn’t insult you or anything, did I?”

Goro keeps walking, trying to increase his pace, though his legs are slightly longer than Ren’s so the other has to alternate between a small run and intense fast-walk as is just to keep up, “I just want to be alone, but you’re being awfully persistent.”

“What’s persistent?” Ren asks for the meaning.

“You,” Goro answers in a heartbeat, “Right now. Not leaving me alone even after I asked you to do it. And you keep nagging and bothering me. That’s persistence.”

Ren stops and grabs Goro by the arm to get him to stop as well. The other almost falls over from the sudden pull, but catches himself at the last second, “What are you-.”

“I’m… I’m not gonna leave you, or make fun of you or anything,” Ren says in a much quieter voice, “That’s why you don’t want to be friends with me, right? You’re scared I’m just gonna end up bullying you like the rest but… I’m not gonna do that! Cos I really like you!" Ren shuts his eyes tightly, unable to look at him when he's saying all of this, "So, please, can I be your friend?”

The words carry far differently than they did before, unlike earlier, none of this sounds like an empty promise, and Goro’s left with completely conflicting feelings. He tugs sharply at his arm to get Ren to give it back, but despite the violent reaction, he ends up mumbling something back to him, “Come to the riverbank tomorrow after school, and I’ll see if I can help put something in that empty head of yours.”

It’s not much, but it puts a big smile on Ren’s face while he watches Goro walk away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy it's been a little while since I've updated this, which I apologise for but life has been super hectic and I couldn't concentrate on writing anything good for this... so here's some more childhood shuake, non-angsty edition!


	15. Reunion

The only sounds in the café are the running water in the sink, the hum of the TV as news anchors and pundits argue over the latest news in politics and the clinking of the dishes that Ren washes up as Sojiro had asked him to while there’s no one in the café. It’s a quiet day for Leblanc, the April showers keeping everyone away from the backstreets, and Leblanc specifically. Not that Ren’s seen many customers around in the two weeks he’s been here, but he doesn’t dare bring that up with the owner.

He’s not watching the TV, politics never interested him all that much, and even if the elections are this year he can’t vote in them anyway, but even when the voice of someone much younger than the reporters and pundits comes on, he doesn’t think much of it. Probably just the reporters going out into the field to ask the younger generation what they think of the current political climate, if anything at all.

With everything washed up, Ren turns off the tap, dries off his hands and with nothing to do now, he turns to the TV and discovers that he was completely wrong in that regard. The teenager is sitting alongside the reporters and pundits, being treated like one of their own. He’d never seen anything like it before, and Ren doesn’t even know what to make of it. Not to mention that now that he could see the guy, the voice actually begins to bother him. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, it’s soothing, calm and very pleasant to listen to but the familiarity of it yet lack of recognition tugs at Ren’s mind. He can’t place it entirely. It’s not just the voice, but the face too. There’s something extremely familiar in all of it.

“We’re dying to know, Akechi-kun, what do you make of these recent accidents? Do you think they’re connected as well?” One of the reporters asks him.

The teenager, keeping his posture, reaches for the cup of water in front of him, takes a sip, and only answers after he's set it back down and cleared his throat, “It’s a possibility, however the occurrence of multiple public transportation workers falling asleep at their place of work and endangering the public may be pointing to a much deeper problem than many think. If these accidents are all connected, I believe it may be a short-coming of the ministry of transportation rather than a problem with the workers themselves.”

_Akechi-kun…?_

The name, the eyes, the hair, they did all add up but Goro never spoke like that. Even when they were children, he did seem more mature than all the other kids in the school, but it wasn’t anything close to that. And as much as Ren hated it, Goro was doomed to the foster care system, wasn’t he? What were the chances that Goro Akechi, Ren’s friend, was not only on TV, but respected and treated as an equal in the eyes of reporters and political pundits?

The doors behind him chime when a customer enters, but Ren’s still too focused on figuring out why this random guy shared so much in common with the Goro he knew from all those years ago, and he knows Sojiro wouldn’t let him serve anyone yet anyway.

The customer chuckles, pulling out one of the bar stools which scrapes against the wooden floors, “I don’t understand why you’re showing that re-run, Sakura-san. It was quite a boring interview in my opinion, I’m sure there are far more interesting programs on TV airing right now.”

It’s the exact same voice as the teenager on TV, and Ren’s can be certain of that since they’re both speaking at the same time. When he turns around again, he finds ‘Akechi-kun’ sitting on the other end of the bar while Sojiro is already pouring him coffee, “You’d be surprised kid,” once he’s done, he sets the pot down and turns his attention to Ren, “He’s a regular here too, make sure to remember his order for the future, alright?”

Akechi looks over from his coffee and smiles, “Oh, you must be the part-timer Sae-san told me about. My name is Goro Akechi, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

_Goro… Akechi?_

Ren begins playing with his fringe, covering most of his face from the customer. On the one hand, this guy had way too much in common with the Goro he knew. On the other, he’s a regular and if Ren gets this wrong then he’ll have to put up with that for the rest of the year…

Then again, if he _is_ wrong it could just be something the two of them laugh about in a years’ time if and when they become friends... right?

Dropping his hand from his fringe, he moves behind the bar so he’s standing directly in front of Akechi. He removes his glasses, setting them on the counter in front of him and grins, “Thinking back on it now, I think I’m more of a cat person than a penguin person. Maybe now I could be the Catwoman to your Batman instead?”

It’s clear from his reaction that whatever he’s been through changed Goro, with how calmly he takes the revelation, only taking a sip from his cup and setting it down instead of freaking out as Ren had expected him to do in the first place, “I do have the detective part down as I promised… but I’m not quite sure how comfortable I’d be with you becoming a thief, Ren.”

“Huh?” Sojiro turns, the familiarity between the two throwing him off, “how does someone like you know someone like him?” He asks, clearly talking to Goro.

Goro raises an eyebrow and looks between Sojiro and Ren, the latter of which had already begun twisting the hair of his fringe again, “We’re childhood friends, actually… but I take it from Sakura-san’s statement that there is a reason you’re here and not back in the village?”

“Um… Well… you know how you have the detective part down?” Ren asks without looking at him, “I may have gotten a head start on my behalf too…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! So for a while I didn't really get any inspiration but proof of justice came out and hoo boy was it a well of inspiration for me!


End file.
